Moqtada al-Sadr, an influential cleric, saw his bloc win the most seats in May, and it is claimed that he will be forming the government with PM Hayder Abadi’s bloc and smaller allies. Others, however, claimed Amiri and former PM Nouri al-Maliki will be forming the government.

It’s still not clear which bloc is going to do it, but Sadr’s party, with the plurality, gets first crack at it. It is unclear if allowing Halbusi to be speaker is a post aimed to placate the losing side with a perfunctory position that is set aside for a Sunni Arab, or if it represents them having major political sway and a shot at forming the coalition.

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Or to placate Americans. After Basra, current Prime Minister has little chance. Inly after promising that be will not continue status quo, Basra subsided. And it subsided after it became clear that saboteurs have infiltrated basically anti-American protest against current government. Sttacks on Iranian and Russian interests were so obviously work of foreign money — that the mood against current American prefered slate of politicians hardened. Forming government is just a process of gradual removal of politicians with ties to American influence. ISIS defeat was the work of Iranian backed militia and Iranian, Russian and Turkish intelligence. Not US controlled Iraqi army, deliberately exposed to bad infelligence that resulted in slaughter of soldiers at ISIS hands. None of it forgotten. This is why it is unlikely that anybody will ever dismantle Shia dominated militias. Sunnis, who tasted ISIS horrors are massively supporting Shia militia. This is same process as the creation of Shia dominated Hezbollah in Lebanon, now supported by Christians and sll urban Sunnis. And this is why in Syria, Assad’s Army is majority Sunni, not Shia. Reasons are same. Saudi brand of Sunni Islamists has allienafed majority Sunnis that do not support the crimes committed in the name of Sunni religion against Shia, Cbristian or Sunnis. The mood of the Middle East has shifted considerably as the Syrian conflict went on. It became clear to Sunnis that primary objective of ISIS and other Saudi suppkrted Sunni Salafi militants wanted in the first place to subjugate Sunnis — to impose Saudi Wahhabism as the only Islamic law. Killing Shia and Christians was only a side show — getting Sunni population alligned with Mecca Wahhabism was primary goal. The urban Sunnis of Lebanon and Syria rejected US-Saudi “birth of the new Middle East”. In fact, Sunni religious leadership supported Assad throughout the conflict, Resulting in Sunnis being the backbone of Syrian Army. Alpeal to nationalism overcame sectarianism so assidiously planted in Iraq, Syria and Lebanon. The same process is under way, slowly but surely in Iraq. Kurds are in disarray in both Iraq and Syria. Which greatly diminishes partitioning dangers.